Spain in recovery mode after losing to Japan at World Cup

It’s t how Spain imagined reaching kckout phase of World Cup: finishing group st with a loss and having to rely on or teams to help it vance.

Spain survived but hes into round of 16 against Morocco with bruised confidence after losing 2-1 to Japan.

“We have to recover emotionally,” Spain coach Luis Enrique said after match Thursday. “We will be playing against one of surprise teams of World Cup and we will have to be fully prepared. re are only 16 teams left in tournament and you have to play better. It’s going to be very difficult.”

Few expected Spain would have such a hard time getting through group st in Qatar after opening with a 7-0 thrashing of Costa Rica. It h also played well against Germany despite conceding a late equalizer, and a draw against Japan in final group game would have been eugh to send Spain through to round of 16.

But after going into what Luis Enrique called “collapse mode” in a five-minute span after halftime, Spain was in danger of an embarrassing early exit, which it avoided thanks to Germany’s 4-2 win over Costa Rica in or Group E match.

Players were anxious on bench kwing that if Costa Rica won or match, Spain would be eliminated. Luis Enrique said he would “have h a heart attack” h he kwn that at one point Costa Rica took le over Germany, temporarily pushing Spain out of second place in group.

It was a big scare, and w La Roja is going into recovery mode ahe of its match against Morocco on Tuesday.

“We have to analyze what happened and fix what we didn’t do well,” Luis Enrique said. “I need to try to get players cheered up again.”

Spain is trying to win its first major title since 2012 European Championship. It won its lone World Cup trophy in 2010 in South Africa.

By finishing second in its group, Spain avoided 2018 runner-ups Croatia in round of 16, and possibly world champion Brazil in quarterfinals and Lionel Messi’s Argentina in semifinals. On its side of bracket w, Spain has teams like England and defending champion France, which it could meet in semis.

“It doesn’t matter, opponents keep changing,” Luis Enrique said. “We wanted to finish with a win and in first place. re’s thing to celebrate.”

coach me five changes to his lineup from 1-1 draw against Germany, bringing in Alejandro Balde, Pau Torres, Nico Williams, César Azpilicueta and Álvaro Morata, who scored in first half for his third goal in as many matches in Qatar.

Azpilicueta, who was substituted at halftime with a kck on his leg, me cross for Morata’s goal. Balde was to blame for Japan’s equalizer after losing possession near penalty area.

“I considered that se 11 were best ones for this match, I have trust in all of my players,” Luis Enrique said. “But looking at how things turned out afterward, maybe I wouldn’t have picked same 11. But it’s easy to say it w.”

Im: AP